by KHOU.com, USA TODAY

by KHOU.com, USA TODAY

TEXAS CITY, Texas - Response efforts continued overnight in the Houston Ship Channel after a barge carrying nearly a million gallons of oil collided with a ship Saturday afternoon.

The spill posed a threat to sensitive shorebird habitat at the peak of migratory season.

The watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Houston/Galveston received a call around 12:35 p.m. from the captain of the 585-foot bulk carrier Summer Wind, reporting a collision. The barge contained 924,000 gallons of fuel oil, towed by the motor vessel Miss Susan.

The Coast Guard didn't give an estimate of how much fuel had spilled into the bay, but there was a visible sheen of oil at the scene.

Officials believe only one of the barge's tanks was breached, with a capacity of 168,000 gallons.

"A large amount of that has been discharged," Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Kristopher Kidd said. He said a plan was being developed to remove the remaining oil from the barge, but the removal had not begun.

The barge was resting on the bottom of the channel, with part of it submerged. He said boom was being set up in the water to protect environmentally-sensitive areas and that people would be working through the night with infrared cameras to locate and skim the oil.

Jim Suydam, spokesman for the General Land Office, described the type of oil the barge was carrying as "sticky, gooey, thick, tarry stuff."

"That stuff is terrible to have to clean up," he said.

Richard Gibbons, the conservation director of the Houston Audubon Society, said there is very important shorebird habitat on both sides of the Houston ship channel.

Audubon has the internationally-recognized Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary just to the east, which Gibbons said attracts 50,000 to 70,000 shorebirds to shallow mud flats that are perfect foraging habitat. He did not know how much oil had been spilled, but said authorities were aware of the sanctuaries and had practiced using containment booms in the past.

Wildlife Response Services, a Texas-based wildlife rehabilitation service, has also been deployed to assist with any impacted birds or marine life.

Mild weather and calm water seemed to help containment efforts, but stormy weather is forecast for the area today.

The six crew members of the Miss Susan are all accounted for and are in stable condition. Two people were taken to the hospital to be checked out after being exposed to Hydrogen Sulfide.

Miss Susan was transiting from Texas City to Bolivar at the time of the collision.

To ensure the safety of response workers in the area and to prevent the spread of oil into other areas of the channel and Galveston Bay, a safety zone has been established restricting vessel traffic in impacted waters. The Bolivar ferry remains closed with the exception of EMS transit.

Air monitoring continues to ensure the safety of workers and others in the area.

The incident response is being coordinated by a unified command, which consists of a wide variety of federal, state and local government agencies, non-profit organizations and the owners of the damaged barge, Kirby Inland Marine.

Monday marks the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez spill off the coast of Alaska. Suydam said that spill spurred the creation of the General Land Office's Oil Spill and Prevention Division, which is funded by a tax on imported oil that the state legislature passed after the Valdez spill. The division does extensive response planning including pre-positioned equipment along the Texas coast.